Bottle valve



Feb. 22, 1938. Y J. W. WANDELL BOTTLE VALVE Filed Feb. 9, 1937 d mm f f f LV V 1/ Patemed Feb. 22, 193s UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Browne-Vintners Go.,

Inc., New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New York Application February 9, 1937, Serial No. 124,809

1 Claim.

This invention relates to valves for fluid con tainers, particularly bottles and valves therefore, that will prevent the commercial refilling of the bottle.

In the liquor industries the refilling of a bottle is damaging to the distiller or bottler of the genuine product and in order to make it commercially non-profitable for an unscrupulous person to ll the bottles that are equipped with a valve, I have provided a novel form of valve which is tamper-proof or leaves evidence of such tampering should it be removed from the bottle for the purpose of refilling.

An object of my invention is to provide a commercially non-rellable bottle valve structure which embodies a minimum number of parts which prevent any disorder or sticking or jamming of the parts to stop the free flow of liquid Y when the bottle is in use. A further object is 20 to provide a bottle valve of the type referred to which can be moulded or pressed out of' a substance similar to bakelite so that the parts are smooth and the moving part of the valve slides readily on the guide tracks with which it has contact. A still further and most important object of my invention is to prevent sealing of the valve by capillary attraction of the valve receptacle with the valve seat as is commonly the case in devices of this kind which are bathed by the fluid contents of a bottle each time the same is used.

Other objects of the invention are the provision of means for preventing tampering with the valve receptacle so that it can be held off its seat, the shaping of the pouring spout of the device so that dripping is prevented and the outside of the bottle is rendered unsightly, the production of a sealing member at small cost which can be readily tted into the neck of a bottle in its assembled form and which will effectively seal the contents against leakage and render the bottles commercially non-rellable.

With these and other objects in view, my invention comprises the construction, combination and arrangement of the various parts hereinafter described, and then particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

5 Figure 1 is an enlarged view in sectional elevation showing the construction of my improved bottle valve and means of seating it within the neck of a bottle and sealing it therein.

Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1 showing the relative arrangement of the (Cl. 21S- 22) parts and the means for seating the guard in the valve cup.

Figure 3 is a section similar to Figure l, showing the bottle tilted so that its median line has not yet coincided with a horizontal plane but due to the action of the ball in the valve receptacle the latter has been moved from its seat against the action of capillary attraction.

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 3 showing a further tilting movement of the bottle and complete movement of the valve receptacle oi its seat,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary View of a modiiied form of valve receptacle in which means are provided for giving the weighted ball an initial starting momentum as the bottle is tilted so that it will force the receptacle from its seat in the valve 011D,

Figure 6 is a View in sectional elevation of a modied form of construction in which the ball feature has been omitted and the guard is positioned differently than in the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 5, and

Figure 7 is a plan view of the valve cup shown in Figure 6 showing the arrangement of the parts thereof.

Referring to the drawing in detail, ID indicates the neck portion of a bottle of any type in which spirituous liquors are preferably sold and which it is desired to render impractical to refill or commercially non-profitable to unscrupulously rell with a product of similar nature to the original but of inferior quality. This neck is provided with an annular bead II over which is pressed or spun the lower edge I2 of a thin metallic sleeve I3 which encompasses the upper end of the neck portion I0 of the bottle and holds in place the valve structure to be described so that, should anyone try to remove the valve structure from the neck of the bottle they must first destroy this thin aluminum cap or sleeve I3. f-

The upper edge of the sleeve I 3 is turned in as at I4 over the flange portion of the spout member I5 which anged portion I6 is recessed as at I'I so that the spout member I5 fits frictionally over the upper end of a valve receptacle I 8. Inasmuch as the parts are moulded they can be formed with very accurate t so that they can be first assembled in a machine preparatory to incorporation in the neck of a bo'ttle. The valve receptacle or cup I8 is of cylindrical shape and is cast to provide on its interior walls three equally spaced :guide rails I9, the outer ends or edges of which are slightly rounded as at 2B so that a minimum amount of friction surface is presented to' the wall of the cup I8 as the latter slides along said rails. The bottom 2| of the cup I8 is provided with a central opening, the edge of whichv is bevelled to present a valve seat 22 to a similarly bevelled lower edge 23 on the bottom of a valve piece or receptacle 24.

The guide rails I9 terminate short of the top of the valve cup I3 and together with suitable side ridges formed between the rails and the wall of. the cup provide seats 25 for the tab ends 26 of a guard member 2, the ridges being indicated by the numeral 28. The guardfZ'I is in the nature of a disk whose center portion 2S is disposed over the valve cup I8 so that the valve piece 24 can not be tampered with. The guard is dropped onto the top oi' the cup I8 so that its three tabs coincide with and rest on the three seats 25 before described. The spout member I5 is formed to provide a neck portion 30 upon the exterior of which a thread 3l is formed to receive a closure cap 32 that is ordinarily used in sealing the bottle and which is secured against premature removal by a seal or the like, not shown. The interior wall of the spout is tapered as at 33 and terminates at the pouring end of the spout in a drip-proof rounded edge 34. The opening in the spout for passage of the fluid is such that the edge thereof at the inner edge of the spout overlies the tab ends 25 of guard member 21 so that the latter is securely held in position and cannot be removed without first removing the spout member which would necessitate breaking the sleeve I3. This shoulder of the spout member which overlies the guard tabs is designated by numeral 35.

The valve cup I8 is provided with an exterior annular ange 36 of substantially the same diameter as` the flanged portion i5 of the spout I5, a fiuid tight seal being provided between said flanges by the gasket 3l. A similar seal is made between the flange 35 and the upper edge of the neck of the bottle by the gasket 38, it being understood that when the sleeve i3 is forced on it compresses the gaskets and renders the valve construction and bottle leak-proof.

The valve member 24 or receptacle is the feature of my invention and consists of a flatbottomed cup, the inner wall of which is tapered as at 39 so that a weighted ball 40 at rest on said flat bottom, will, as illustrated in Figure 3 when the bottle is tilted slightly roll down the side wall of the cup or receptacle 24 and strike the plu-.g 4I which is force fitted into the upper end of the member 24, with the result that the relatively light member 24 will be moved off its seat 22 to permit flow of. the fluid through the opening in the valve cup i8, between the guide rails, out through the openings between the tabs of the guard and through the spout. rIhis action of the valve induced by the momentum of the ball striking the closed end of the valve receptacle 24- is such that the member 24 will be moved away from its seat against the capillary action between the surfaces 22 and 23 which tend to prevent movement of the member 24.

rlhe plug 4I is provided with a central cone point 42 which prevents the valve member 24 from adhering to the inner surface of the guard when the member 24 drops to the position illustrated in Figure 4 when the bottle is inverted.

In the form of invention illustrated in Figure 5, the only change from the construction illustratedin Figure i resides in the form of the valve receptacle 24A which slides on or between the rails ISA formed in the cup- IBA, whose bottom is provided with a bevelled valve seat opening 22A against which seats the outer conical wall 23A of the member 24A which is in the nature of a cup whose interior wall is tapered in its cylindrical portion and more sharply tapered in its conical portion. This construction of the valve receptacle provides a means for imparting a starting impetus to the ball 40A so that it will strike the closed plug-end 4IA of the receptacle to force the latter 01T its seat against the capillary force that may be restraining it against free movement away from its seat. In this form the plug-end is pointed as. at 42A to prevent its adhesion to the guard.

Referring to both forms described the ball employed, is of lead or other heavy substance that is relatively heavier than the valve receptacle which it is arranged to move.V When a drink has been poured from the bottle, and the latter is turned to upright position, the ball will assist in seating the valve receptacle so that evaporation of the contents of the bottle will be prevented.

Referring to the form of my invention shown in Figures 6 and 7, 5U indicates a spout similar in construction to spout I5 and arranged to forcibly t over the upper end of a cup 5i in which guide rails 52 arey provided for the guidance of a sliding cup valve. In this form, the invention contemplates the ready assembly of the parts by placing the guard which may have three or more radial tabs 53, so that the tabs rest on the upper edge of the valve cup 5I and be held in place between said cup 5I and the shoulder 52A on the spout 50. The method of rendering the device lleak-proof in this form includes a sealing sleeve of cork 54 which nts about the outside of the cup 5I and between it and the internal wall of the bottle neck 55, the device being held in position in the neck of the bottom by a metallic sleeve 5&5. In this form it will be noted that the valve member 5'! is hollow, bevelled as at 58 on its lower edge to coact with a similar bevelled edge 6B in the cup 5I, and is provided on its upper surface with a cone point 59 to prevent its adherence to the guard 53A. It will be also noted that the guard can be placed on cup 5I in any position without respect to the guide rails 52. If desired, in this form, the balltype valve receptacle may be used.

The action of the ball 40, it will be noted is to give the valve receptacle or member 24 a movement before it moves of its own accord under the influence of gravity to uncover the valve cup opening. The ball rolling down the inclined inner wall of the member 24 will strike the plug closure 4I and give an initial movement to the valve member to uncover the cup opening, thus overcoming any resistance due to adhesion of the valve member to the bevelled surface 22 which constitutes the valve seat. As seen in Figure 3, this action will take place during the tilting of the bottle but before it has been tilted far enough to cause the valve member to move by gravity.

My invention is not to be restricted to the preoise details of construction shown since various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the inven- -tion or sacrificing the advantages derived from its use.

What I claim is:

In a bottle valve, in combination, a valve cup having a fluid opening therein, arranged to be positioned in the neck of a bottle, guide rails providing ridges along the inner wall of said cup and terminating short of the top of the cup to present seats, a guard disk for partly closing the top of the cup, tabs on the disk arranged to rest in the said seats to sustain the disk flush with the upper edge of said cup, a spout member tting over the upper end of the cup, said member being shouldered at its lower end to fit over the tabs to retain the guard disk in place, a hollow closed valve member in the cup slidable along said guide rails to uncover the fluid opening in the valve cup when the bottle is tilted for pouring, said valve member having a cylindrical body portion, the inner Wall of which is tapered and a outer end of the spout member being shaped to 10 provide a non-drip pouring edge.

JAMES W. WANDELL. 

